Welcome to In The Studio, a place to show off your studio and meet some great artists! Sooooo, it's been two weeks since I posted anything on this blog. I apologize for standing you all up last week. I have an excuse, whether good or not, I don't know.

I was at the beach.

That's pretty good, right? I mean life's a beach, isn't it? What does that even mean? Anyway, I spent last week down in Cape Town, and it was wonderful. How could it not be when this is the view?

Some of it was work, but some was vacation with my better half. It's always so good to get away, isn't it?

Don't you just love our matching sunglasses?

I want to sincerely thank all of you for your In The Studio link-ups the past several years from when Studio JRU hosted and then I started hosting. It's always been a joy to see the different things people are creating. I'm in an interesting season of life where stress levels are higher than they should be. I've realized that, in order to get to a healthy place, I must lay some things down. I don't know why, but this has always been hard for me. These weekly In The Studio link-ups are one of the things I feel is time to lay down. It's been a hard decision, but I know it's a right one. I do so look forward to seeing, one last time, all the good stuff you all have been up to!

Now it's your turn! Remember your "studio" can be anywhere. Let's celebrate each other's creativity by linking up and visiting as many as the other studios as you can. Check out the about post for more info and don't forget to grab the In The Studio button!

Welcome to In The Studio, a place to show off your studio and meet some great artists! Since we just celebrated a birthday around here, that meant some fresh ten year old photos were in order! This girl cracks me up. It's always a struggle for me and her to agree on wardrobe and hair. It usually involves compromise on both sides and a willingness for each to do some photos as they please. Thank goodness we had fun during the shoot, so we didn't both come home in tears!

It's Spring here in S. Africa which means the jacarandas are in full bloom. There's nothing like that beautiful purple that lines the streets of our town. It's a treat that we only get in October, so I try to enjoy it as much as I can.

Last year I said I was going to do her photos in the midst of the jacarandas, but I waited too long. This year I vowed to make it happen, so we didn't miss the opportunity. A Sunday afternoon was the perfect time since not many people are out.

I can't believe my baby has entered double digits. She's growing up way too fast and not listening to her mama when I ask her to please slow down. Sigh.

Now it's your turn! Remember your "studio" can be anywhere. Let's celebrate each other's creativity by linking up and visiting as many as the other studios as you can. Check out the about post for more info and don't forget to grab the In The Studio button!

This year, on our anniversary, we hosted a visiting team for good conversation, cookies, coffee, and tea. It wasn't a romantic getaway, but it was fine. That's not stopping us from celebrating 15 years of our wedded love. Later this month we are getting that romantic getaway. I don't care that it's 6 weeks after the fact. The point is that we are making it happen! My point is this...timing doesn't always line up, but I think that taking the time to have a special date or even a getaway with your spouse is a MUST. We need those fun, special moments in our lives. Five years ago, we celebrated our tenth anniversary at a conference (we have knack for perfect timing of these things). Again, not ideal but it was what it was. Nine months later we decided to celebrate our tenth (even though we were closer to our eleventh) by going to Canada. We had a lovely time in The Thousand Islands in Gananoque. If you're ever over that way, check out how lovely it is over at Petit Elefant! And don't forget to make special moments with your spouse happen!

Circumstances may be different, but the emotion of fear is universal. All children experience it...from kids I met in Uganda a couple of years ago to my own kids. I'm sharing over at Tommy Nelson about trusting God in the midst of scary circumstances. Join me there!

Welcome to In The Studio, a place to show off your studio and meet some great artists! It's party central around these parts! This party actually took place over a month ago. I just haven't posted it yet! My friend, Kacy, turned 30 the end of August. 30th birthdays call for big celebrations, so that's what we aimed for when we planned a fiesta!

Fajitas, chips and salsa, guacamole, Spanish rice, and refried beans adorned the savory menu. Chocolate fondue with fruit and pound cake, along with some Brazilian sweet pizza, made up the sweet menu.

Of course, we had to have a photo booth. How do you like the tied up scarves for the background? There was dancing to country music (in the bottom of an empty pool, isn't that what you do with pools??) and an epic lip sync battle using rolling pins as microphones.

Ah, celebrations are wonderful. Celebrating anything or anyone this week?

Now it's your turn! Remember your "studio" can be anywhere. Let's celebrate each other's creativity by linking up and visiting as many as the other studios as you can. Check out the about post for more info and don't forget to grab the In The Studio button!

Welcome to In The Studio, a place to show off your studio and meet some great artists! I'm going to start out with a confession to make on this fine Friday. I am terribly independent. I saw my mother recently took one of those Facebook tests. This particular one was what trait defines your daughter. Guess what came up? Independent. Now I don't necessarily believe independence is a bad thing...except when it is. In my case, in my moments of doing something by myself and feeling stressed, God frequently asks me, "Why didn't you ask for help?" Well, because I'm terribly independent. :)

Where am I going with this? Well, you see, when Jeremy and Emma G's totally rockin' 80's party started at 3 pm, there was no food out and no drinks made. I was still preparing fruit kabobs, and the 7 layer dip hadn't even been started. As I watched my friends step in and just start helping, I was reminded that asking for help is not a sign of weakness. Rather, it's remembering that it's ok to ask these friends, this non-blood family that I'm surrounded with, for a little help sometimes. It was a beautiful start to one of the funnest (that's not a word, is it?) parties I've ever thrown.

I racked my brain (and Pinterest) to jog my memory for my menu. I forgot just how artificial food was in the 80's! So terrible! Manwich sloppy joe's, pizza rolls, TV dinners, Little Debbie sweets, Sunny D, they all were a part of my diet in the 80's. I strive to deliver healthy meals to my family, so I put a homemade spin on these processed food favorites. Well, except for the cheese Doritos.

The sloppy joe's were amazing! The pizza rolls were ok. I think proper won ton wrappers would have been better than the spring roll pastry I used. 7 layer dip...well, can you go wrong with that? I loved this recipe, because it called for Greek yogurt rather than sour cream. I put the chips in melted records I made. So fun! The twinkies were SO time consuming (partly the reason I wasn't ready at 3). I didn't even inject them with cream. They were good, but I don't know if I'll ever do that again. Whew! The Pacman sugar cookies were fun. I got the idea from Cut Out & Keep and used her icing recipe but stuck with my favorite sugar cookie recipe. Rainbow fruit kabobs offered a bit of a healthy option. Sunny D was freshly squeezed orange juice, and the Hawaiian Punch...oh my, so good!

While the 80's tunes played, we played Twister, the kids did tie dyed tees using sharpie markers and rubbing alcohol, and a competition of Just Dance eventually ensued, but the best was seeing everyone dress up from the 80's. Totally gnarly! Emma G's costume might have been the best, even though I did wear a rainbow unicorn t-shirt. (I do admit that I had a unicorn poster hanging in my room during my 80's childhood.)

Don't we like totally look like some too cool for school 80's lovers? I'm thinking about doing my hair like that everyday.

You can't have a party without cake. I made lots of suggestions to Miss Emma. The ones that finally landed were rainbow swirled vanilla cupcakes and a rainbow cake with buttercream icing. So yum.

I just love these two and had SO MUCH fun celebrating who they are. Yay for birthdays and for beautiful people to celebrate!

Now it's your turn! Remember your "studio" can be anywhere. Let's celebrate each other's creativity by linking up and visiting as many as the other studios as you can. Check out the about post for more info and don't forget to grab the In The Studio button!

About me

Creativity, adventure, family and love are a few of my favorite things. I have spent the last 22 years traveling the world in search of them. My husband and I co-founded, along with a friend, an organization called Ten Thousand Homes, a non-profit building futures and homes. In 2016, I started a social enterprise called The Reverie Guesthouse. I believe we can change the world. I have two beautiful children who teach me everyday. I enjoy writing and the occasional photo.